This post originally explained why offline payments were not supported by Stripe, and predicted they likely never would be. That prediction didn't hold up. Stripe added offline support, and this post has been rewritten (July 2026) to reflect how offline payments actually work today.
The Payment app now supports offline payments: you can take card payments with no wifi or cellular signal at all, and the app forwards them to Stripe automatically once you reconnect. If your booth is in a dead zone or the venue wifi collapses mid-event, you no longer have to miss the sale.
How offline mode works
When your device loses connectivity, the app can keep accepting payments through a compatible Bluetooth card reader. Card details are encrypted and stored securely on your device, and the app shows an offline indicator so you know the charge is queued rather than processed. Once your device reconnects, the queued payments are submitted to Stripe automatically in the background, and you'll receive a notification for each one.
What you need
Offline payments require a Bluetooth card reader that supports offline mode, such as the Stripe Reader M2 or the WisePad 3. Two things do NOT work offline:
- Tap to Pay, on iPhone or Android, requires an active internet connection
- Standalone mode on the S700 and V660p is online-only
In addition, offline charges are amount-only. Products, customers, invoices and payment links all require a connection, so the app sets those aside while you're offline.
Why offline payments are still risky
The original reasoning in this post remains true: payment information is normally verified in real time, and without a connection there is no way to know if a card is fraudulent, stolen or lacks sufficient funds. Imagine the following scenario:
A customer approaches your booth, and attempts to pay for several pieces of merchandise with a known stolen credit card. Because the card cannot be verified in real time, this customer would be allowed to walk off with the merchandise with the assumption of success in the future.
What changed is that Stripe built guardrails around exactly this risk. Offline payments have transaction limits set by Stripe, based on your account history and their risk assessment. Queued payments should be synced within 24 hours for the best chance of successful processing, and the app will remind you if anything is still waiting.
What happens if a queued payment fails?
This is the tradeoff you accept. A payment can decline when it syncs, for the same reasons any card declines: insufficient funds, an expired card, or fraud. You'll be notified immediately with the details so you can follow up with the customer. For that reason, we recommend offline mode for trusted customers or lower-value transactions, exactly the scenarios (markets, festivals, remote job sites) where it's most useful anyway.
Learn more about setting up offline payments: https://paymentforstripe.com/guides/offline-payments
